Meroles reticulatus ( Bocage, 1867 )

Santos, Bruna S., Marques, Mariana P., Bauer, Aaron M. & Ceríaco, Luis M. P., 2021, Herpetological results of Francisco Newton’s Zoological Expedition to Angola (1903 – 1906): a taxonomic revision and new records of a forgotten collection, Zootaxa 5028 (1), pp. 1-80 : 22

Meroles reticulatus ( Bocage, 1867)

Material (six specimens): One juvenile and two adult specimens (MHNCUP/REP 225–227, formerly UP- MHNFCP-094993–094995; Fig. S33 ), collected from Mossamedes [= Moçâmedes] [-15.20000º, 12.15000º, 24 m a.s.l.] Namibe Province, in 1905 ; one adult specimen (MHNCUP/REP 228, formerly UP-MHNFCP-018332), collected from unknown locality, date unknown; one juvenile and one adult specimen (MHNCUP/REP 229–230, formerly UP-MHNFCP-017365 and UP-MHNFCP-052198), collected from Bahia dos Tigres [= Baía dos Tigres] [-16.58559º, 11.82709º, 98 m a.s.l.] Namibe Province, in 1905 .

Comments: Meroles reticulatus is a species known from the coastal regions of the Namib desert in southwestern Angola and northern Namibia ( Marques et al. 2018). Like M. anchietae , there are very few published records from Angola, although there are several specimens present in natural history museums’ collections ( Ceríaco et al. 2016a; Marques et al. 2018). Specimens MHNCUP/REP 229–230 are the first published records for “Bahia dos Tigres”. Ferreira did not publish these specimens, but identified them as “ Scapateira reticulata ”, as noted by the extant labels. The species was recently collected by Luís M. P. Ceríaco and Mariana P. Marques in the same area where Newton collected the aforementioned specimens ( Fig. 8 ).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Life photo of Meroles reticulatus from Baía dos Tigres. Photo by Luis Ceríaco.

FIGURE S33. Specimen of Meroles reticulatus (MHNCUP/REP 227), from Moçâmedes. Photo by Bruna Santos.